There ain't no samurai, there are few geisha, Japanese are not the most polite people in the world. In practice, there is no special love or care for nature, nor is Japan uniquely unique. Sorry, but the sugar-coated fantasyland-Japan of Edwin O. Reischauer et al does not exist--if it ever did.

Friday, October 09, 2009

In a stunning surprise, the Nobel Committee announced Friday that it had awarded its annual peace prize to President Obama “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”NYT

I repeat, "Huh?" Obama is a big improvement over his predecessor in many ways---even though he has tended to continue very similar or the same policies---but the Noble Peace Prize?

As to whether the prize was given too early in Mr. Obama’s presidency, Mr. Jagland [Noble Committee chairman], a former prime minister of Norway, replied: “We are not awarding the prize for what may happen in the future but for what he has done in the previous year. We would hope this will enhance what he is trying to do.”

Gobsmacking. Perhaps it was his Afghanistan policy. Or the withdrawal from Iraq.

I no longer understand anything. Going to buy videos games and sit in the closet and play them all day and night.

9PM: After rereading the article, I get the impression that Obama got the prize in part because he isn't Bush. Had he not followed Boy George---who managed to get nearly the whole planet to revile him---Obama would have had to wait a few years...